


In The Woods Somewhere

by helioseismologist



Category: Until Dawn (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: F/M, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Supernatural Elements, Underage Drinking, Unrequited Love, Until Dawn AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-23
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-24 03:38:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8355553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helioseismologist/pseuds/helioseismologist
Summary: One year after the mysterious disappearance of two of their friends, eight teenagers return to the cabin in the woods where the incident took place. Expecting to have a fun time, things turn sour fast for the friends when they realize they're not alone on the mountain; someone - or something - is watching them.(Or: The Youtuber/Until Dawn crossover that nobody asked for.)





	1. Preface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A note of pretty crucial information to know before reading. Or you can skip it if you want. I'm not the police so I'm not gonna stop you.

So, I love crossovers and alternate universes. Mainly I just enjoy putting my favorite characters in situations that would otherwise be impossible in their canon for my own amusement. So, I asked myself: how can I kill off some of my favorite YouTube personalities in an entertaining way without seeming sadistic? And the answer to that is to put them in the universe of the horror game Until Dawn.

I usually hate when people make their first chapter a note, but I made this as a sort of preface to the story in order to clarify some things that I feel would otherwise confuse some readers. Chiefly:

  * Obligatory RPF disclaimer: I don’t intend for this piece of fiction to be taken as fact, to be a completely accurate representation of the real people I’m using as characters here, or for the fictional relationships I have put them in to be considered real. It’s all a work of fiction, and I use artistic license while writing. (I personally don’t even ship things in reality; it’s all for fun!)
  * I like to think that you can read this fic without having played/seen someone play Until Dawn. I tried my best to capture the original character’s motivations and the nuances of the plot to give it the original feel, so hopefully it won’t be confusing without prior knowledge. Though, if you want to experience the game in its original form, I suggest watching either [Cryaotic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBrK27tyb8I&list=PLeqwXTaiY-OwFSBG-fzSIIdVO5WQG_0De) or the [Scary Game Squad](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo2mwlWZMzk&list=PLFx-KViPXIkFNftmkbEGV3rJSa7bKHngs) play through the game. They’re the most thorough people I’ve seen play the game and actually care about the plot.
  * Though I kept the plot completely the same, the actions and dialogue of the characters have been changed. This is to preserve the personalities of the YouTubers and to keep them ‘in character.’ If I had one of the people act completely like the character whose role they had taken, the immersion would be ruined because that’s just not how they act in real life! Plus, if it was all 100% the same, you might as well just play the game and imagine the characters with the YouTubers’ names, IMO.
  * This is a universe in which none of the characters do YouTube. They’re just some friends who are conveniently around the same age and go to school together, if we can set nationalities aside. The setting of the original story is left fairly ambiguous, so I intend to do the same thing in the story. Suspension of disbelief, and all that jazz.
  * I removed the sections of the game dealing with Dr. Hill. These parts were more so to enhance the gameplay experience and have no actual effect on the actual story, in my own opinion, so they’re not really relevant in this medium. Plus, they would have been a nightmare to try and write considering they take place outside of the setting of the story, which, no spoilers, is a complex concept in and of itself. The same thing goes for the totems: they have no relevance to the story, so I cut them out.
  * All choices are made by me with the knowledge of their consequences and significance. They are deliberate choices that I believe make the most logical sense and contribute the most to the story and the development of the characters. Some may not agree with them, _I_ may not even like them, but you have to add suspense and drama, you know?
  * The title of this fic comes from the song of the same name by Hozier. It’s poignant and dark and haunting and I feel that it fits perfectly with Until Dawn. [Check it out sometime](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDaGSJpGMmA).
  * I’ve been working on this for a while, so sorry if the market is saturated with this type of story by the time I actually get around to posting it or if it’s just plain irrelevant. Even if it is, it’s okay; I enjoyed writing this for myself and posting it is just added fun.



And that’s pretty much it in general. If there are any additional questions you encounter along the way, feel free to ask!

Now for the big cast reveal. Drum roll please…

  * Ashley – Marzia Bisognin ([CutiePieMarzia](https://www.youtube.com/user/CutiePieMarzia))
  * Chris – Felix Kjellberg ([PewDiePie](https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie))
  * Emily – Matt Watson ([SuperMega](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPc2PdtA7gCMbjYp_i_TKA)/[Kids with Problems](https://www.youtube.com/user/kidswithproblems))
  * Jess – Jack McLoughlin ([jacksepticeye](https://www.youtube.com/user/jacksepticeye))
  * Josh – PJ Liguori ([KickThePj](https://www.youtube.com/user/KickThePj))
  * Matt – Ryan Magee ([SuperMega](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPPc2PdtA7gCMbjYp_i_TKA)/[Cyndago](https://www.youtube.com/user/Cyndago))
  * Mike – Mark Fischbach ([Markiplier](https://www.youtube.com/user/markiplierGAME))
  * Sam – Louise Pentland ([SprinkleofGlitter](https://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter))
  * Beth – Phil Lester ([AmazingPhil](https://www.youtube.com/user/AmazingPhil))
  * Hannah – Dan Howell ([danisnotonfire](https://www.youtube.com/user/danisnotonfire))



My selections for the characters were less based on the similarities of the YouTubers and the original characters and more based on what situations I wanted them to be in, what role I wanted them to play, etc. Real relationships played a part—Felix and Marzia are obvious, and Felix and PJ are bros so putting them in Chris and Josh’s shoes made sense—but I also had to take some liberties here and there. For example: Dan and Phil were adopted by PJ’s parents as it makes the story run smoother. There is a multitude of reasons I put each person in their role, though, and you can ask about them if you’re curious.

That’s about it for this preface. Thanks for listening to me waffle about my silly AU. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask, and I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it!


	2. Prologue - One Year Ago

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten drunk teenagers, an unrequited crush, and a prank gone wrong. Basically your typical Friday night in high school.

It had all been Jack’s idea. Mark reminded himself of this over and over again as he watched his friend scribble out a barely legible note and forge Mark’s name at the bottom. They had all agreed to it, though, in their state of blissful intoxication, and they were now about to carry it out in front of all of their friends.

Was this even a good idea?

It probably wasn’t, he realized as Matt took his hand and squeezed it affectionately. Mark couldn’t quite meet his boyfriend’s eyes, but when he glanced over to Matt, he could see a wicked grin spread across his face. He and Jack were completely set on doing this, Mark thought with dread, watching as Jack set the note gently down on the counter for Dan to find a few minutes later. This was actually happening. He could stop it, tell them that it was a stupid idea and that he didn’t want to take it too far… but he didn’t. He wasn’t sure why, but he wasn’t objecting.

He could tell from the look on Louise’s face that she was having the same feelings that he was. Her mouth was screwed up in a contemplative position, her arms crossed tightly over her chest, and she looked like she was about to say something, but she didn’t. Mark could already feel the guilt well up inside of his stomach, and he wished so hard that she would just hurry up and say something so that he wouldn’t have to.

Just a few feet away, both PJ and Felix lay unconscious and slumped against the kitchen island, having dared each other to a drinking game that they had both lost. PJ, loving, adoring PJ, Dan’s adoptive brother and the host of this party, who wouldn’t dare let anyone touch Dan or Phil… Mark swallowed hard. This was  _such_  a bad idea.

“I can’t believe you’re actually doing this,” Matt laughed, shaking his head. “This is _so_ bad.”

 _Yes_ , Mark wanted to say,  _it_ is _so bad. In fact, it’s terrible. Let’s just stop right now and pretend none of this ever happened._  Instead, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration, remaining silent, because he was a coward and that was what cowards did.

“Shh shh shhh,” Jack hushed Matt, holding up a finger to the other man’s lips. _God_ , he was drunk. He nodded over to where PJ lay at the island, unaware of the conspirators standing not even ten feet away from him. Shouldn’t wake him up lest he put a stop to the _hilarious_ prank that was about to go down, _haha_. Mark stifled a groan.

In a sort of miracle, Louise seemed to find her voice and said, “Don’t you think this is just a bit cruel?”

Mark looked over at her, silently grateful. At least he wouldn’t have to be the one killing Jack and Matt’s fun. And besides, Dan was Louise’s best friend in the entire world; how did Jack figure letting her in on the plan would work out?

“Oh, come, now,” Jack started, that shit-eating grin across his face. Mark noticed how flushed he was from having drunk so much over the night. “Just a bit o’ harmless fun, Louise.” His smile faltered, and he looked away from her face before he continued, “And besides, it’s not like he doesn’t deserve it.”

Louise visibly stiffened at this. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked him. Before Jack could answer—Lord knows, he was _bound_ to have some smart answer for her—she went on. “Just because he fancies Mark and that bothers you guys doesn’t mean you can treat him like—”

“Alright, but that’s just it, though,” Jack interrupted her quickly, frowning, “he fancies Mark  _too_  much. Have you  _seen_  the way he looks at him lately? Or acts around him? It’s just disgusting. I’m just saying, if Mark were  _my_  boyfriend, I’d be more than concerned about it, and something like this will put an end to all that…  _flirtiness_.” He gazed over to Matt. “I’m just looking out for me and mine.”

Matt gave him an appreciative smile. “That’s right. Don’t fuck with my man, _bitcheees_.” He dragged the word out for an obscenely long time and giggled at himself after.

Always one to combat his nervousness with jokes, Mark quipped back, “Yeah, no. I’m not anyone’s man, _babe_.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “If you say so, _darling_.” This elicited a snort from Jack, who had begun walking out of the kitchen toward the guest bedroom, and the others followed suit.

Of course that wouldn’t have worked. Of fucking course. Jack and Matt wouldn’t be so easily dissuaded, and Mark had known that. Any attempt he made to do so would have been just as quickly shot down by his boyfriend. That realization was what made him carefully avoid eye contact with Matt, and even dodge his attempt to hold his hand.

Standing outside of the kitchen waiting for their friends to return were Marzia and Ryan. They were in on the prank, too, and neither of them seemed to have any moral objections to it, either. Louise stayed back from the group as they all walked toward the guest bedroom, disgusted. They really were planning on doing this, weren’t they? Even though Dan hadn’t done anything to wrong them, they were about to humiliate him in front of all of his friends... and possibly the internet, if the camera in Ryan’s hand said anything.

Lovely, kind, sweet-hearted Dan, who Louise doted over and made feel loved every day of his life. He just _had_ to fall head-over-heels for a guy as idiotic as Mark who didn’t deserve him. He could have anyone he wanted, anyone in the world, and _that_ was who he chose. Louise wasn’t bitter—she wasn’t. She just wanted what was best for her best friend.

Quickly, Louise ascended the stairs. There were a few minutes left before two. She could find Dan in time and stop this whole thing before it ever started. She knew she could.

 

-:-

 

In the guest bedroom, the others were preparing for Dan’s arrival. It was almost certain that he had seen the note by now, and now they had to get ready for the real prank to begin.

Mark sat on the edge of the bed, watching as his friends hid. Ryan had his brand new camera in his hand, poised and ready as he situated himself in the wardrobe next to the bed. Marzia chuckled to herself as she ducked behind the wall divider. And, of course, Matt and Jack had decided to slide underneath the bed, with a perfect view of the scene. Mark could hear them laughing to each other drunkenly underneath him.

“Hush up!” Jack whispered forcefully between giggles. “I think I hear him.”

Mark’s stomach began twisting with nerves as he, too, heard the footsteps approaching. Now was his chance to put an end to this, at the risk of looking like a fool to everyone. How would Matt react? He could feel his palms becoming clammy, but he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.

Maybe… he secretly wanted this. The realization shook him. It  _had_  been a pain to constantly turn down Dan’s advances, and yet he continued to act as if he were infatuated with Mark. And the fights that it had caused between Mark and Matt had created _so_ much bitterness in their relationship. Maybe showing Dan once and for all that he just wasn’t interested would change everything for the better…

The door handle began to turn. “Mark?” came a small whisper as Dan entered the room. When he saw Mark sitting on the bed, he smiled brightly, and a blush began to spread across his cheeks.

Against his better judgement, Mark stood up to meet him and gave him a smile of his own. “Hey, Dan.”

  

-:-

 

Phil made his way into the kitchen, scratching his head and yawning. Embarrassingly enough, he had passed out on the couch after only a few drinks, apparently missing most of the party in his unconscious state. None of his friends were anywhere to be found, with the exception of his adoptive brother PJ and PJ’s best friend, Felix, who were both passed out at the kitchen counter surrounded by bottles.

Phil had to laugh as he made his way to sink to get a glass of water. At least he wasn’t the only one who couldn’t handle his liquor.

Above the sink was a wide window, which was slowly being covered up by the falling snow. Phil stared out, gazing up at the full moon that illuminated the snow, making the world seem to glow. The wind blew the treetops, making them sway in the wind, and everything seemed peaceful. Phil would say the sight was almost ethereal… That was a word, right?

Laughing softly at himself, he poured himself a glass of tap water and sipped from it as he continued to look out at the snow. He wished he could go outside and take a photograph of the scene before him; PJ would have absolutely adored it. Photography and cinematography were PJ’s areas of expertise, and if Phil could only take a photo right now and show his brother what an amazing photographer he could be…

Something was moving in the distance.

Phil nearly choked on his water at the realization. He watched the figure move across the yard, near to the tree line and too far out to be recognizable. Was it one of his friends?

“I thought Dad said it was just gonna be us up here this weekend,” Phil said loudly to PJ, not taking his eyes off the person walking parallel to the house. When he didn’t receive an answer, he called out PJ’s name, and still didn’t get a response. Exasperated, he turned from the window to see why PJ wasn’t answering him, and realized that, yeah, PJ was still unconscious.

Phil had to laugh at himself, again. Maybe  _he_  was still drunk, too.

Pushing the incident to the back of his mind, Phil walked over to where PJ and Felix lay at the counter. There were no less than ten bottles of liquor between the two of them, and Phil really hoped some of them had come from their friends.

“Jeez, Peej, really turning into Dad, now, aren’t you?” he joked darkly to himself, leaning over PJ and giving his shoulders a good shake. PJ groaned and slid himself away from the annoyance as best he could as he slept.

Deciding that he should probably go to check on his friends, Phil made his way to the double doors leading from the kitchen to the corridor, when something on the counter caught his eye. Curious, Phil turned it over and began to read the atrocious handwriting.

 _Dan,_ the letter began, and Phil could feel his heart sink. 

> _You looked so damn fine in those jeans tonight, but I bet you look even better out of them. ;) Meet me in my room at 2 am. Don’t tell Matt. ;D xxx Mark_.

“Is this serious?” Phil nearly yelled, letting the paper fall from his hands onto the counter below. He didn’t get mad easily, but _this_ —this was ridiculous. “What is wrong with him?”

  

-:-

 

Dan could feel the heat rising to his cheeks as Mark practically appraised him. He couldn’t believe this was happening. After years of pining over the man, wishing and hoping with all of his might that he would get the hint, Mark finally,  _finally_  was interested in him!

Maybe it had been the tattoo, Dan thought wildly, rubbing the artwork on his shoulder subconsciously. He had gotten it on a whim, hoping his “newfound spontaneous side” would impress Mark. Apparently, it had, and Dan grinned brightly at him for it.

However, now that the two of them were alone together, Dan didn’t exactly know what to say. The note was fairly straight forward, but he had never done this before, with  _anyone_ , so he wasn’t exactly sure where to go from here. Romantic movies made it look so easy.

Thankfully, Mark seemed to pick up that he wasn’t sure what to do. “So,” he said, an easy smile coming to his face as he clapped his hands together softly, “maybe we should start slow, you know? Maybe just some making out, or…”

He paused, suddenly seeming unsure of himself. Anxious, a million thoughts began running through Dan’s head.  _Oh, God, what’s wrong? Does he not want to do this anymore? Did he change his mind? Or does he not want to make out? Maybe he wants something more, but doesn’t know how to say it because he thinks I’m scared. He said… he liked my jeans…_

The pieces all seemed to come together in his head. He glanced down at himself, then up at Mark, and began to undo the button of his jeans with trembling fingers.

Mark’s eyes widened, as if he couldn’t believe what was happening before him, and he looked as if he was about to say something until they both heard something make noise.

“Good lord, he’s gone straight for it!” came a distinctive whisper, and Dan could feel his blood run cold as he got the button undone.

Underneath the bed, clearly visible to Dan now, were Matt and Jack, laughing their asses off. “Oh my god,” Dan muttered, realization flooding over him hard and fast. He looked up to the back of the room and saw Ryan and Marzia standing there, as well. “What... What are you guys...?” He could feel his throat closing up. Ryan was holding a camera, and they were all smiling at him, Matt and Jack and, and oh God…

The door opened up behind him, and suddenly Louise was there, grasping his arms and saying something to him, and Mark was reaching out for him, too, and everyone was talking at once, too close, and it was all too much. Before his panic attack could fully consume him, Dan darted from the room, wanting to be anywhere,  _anywhere_  but there.

 

-:-

 

Phil was angry. Furious, even. How dare Mark try something so disgusting? He couldn’t just trick his poor brother into doing something so deplorable. And what about Matt? That would cause so much trouble for everyone involved.

Phil swore aloud, something he did so rarely that it surprised even himself. Hopefully Dan wouldn’t be so naïve as to actually fall for something like this. But he was so infatuated with Mark… He’d probably fall for anything that came out of his “Adonis-like” mouth. Ugh.

Before he could make up his mind about what to do, a figure moved swiftly in front of the kitchen window.

Phil froze, his dilemma put on pause. Someone was definitely outside, and they didn’t seem to just be exploring. Feeling his adrenaline kick in, Phil burst from the kitchen, eager to find his friends. When he entered the hall, though, he could already see them all moving toward the side door.

“What…?” Phil mumbled, and he grabbed his jacket from the back of his armchair to follow them outside.

They stood just outside of the door, crowding against each other and looking out toward the forest. Phil pushed past them just in time to see Dan disappear past the wood line.

He turned on Mark. “What happened?” he demanded. “Where is my brother going?”

Mark floundered for a moment, as if he didn’t know what to say, so Jack answered for him. “Nothing happened. He just… he can’t take a joke, is all.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, staring intently down at the ground.

“It was just a prank,” Matt added weakly.

Phil rolled his eyes. “You all are a real pathetic lot,” he said, glaring at them before he took off at full speed after Dan.

Mark grimaced and looked toward Louise. “Do you think we should go after them?” he asked.

“You know, I think you’re the last person Dan wants to see right now, Mark,” Louise spat, and the truth of it hurt worse than any insult she could have thrown at him.

 

-:-

 

Running through the snow-blanketed forest dispelled the illusion of beauty for Phil, he thought. He could feel a cold sweat building on his brow as he narrowly dodged tree roots and rocks in the dark, desperate to find his brother. The trail that Dan had followed twisted around the trees dangerously, and Phil began worrying in earnest.

“Dan!” he called, nearly catching his foot under a hidden tree root. “Damn it _—_ Dan, please come back!”

It seemed like hours that he ran in the forest before he decided it was far too dark to see four feet in front of him. The footsteps he had been following seemed to all but disappear, as well. Phil slowed down to a walk, feeling the aching burn in his lungs as he did so.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned on his flashlight to help him see. At a much slower pace than before, he continued his search, examining the path for any footprints that deviated from the trail.

Phil was so consumed with following the trail that he scarcely noticed a flash of light up on a hill to his left. He stopped for a moment in his tracks, confused and startled. “What in the world was that?” he mumbled as he continued to walk, not taking his eyes off the spot where the light had appeared. It hadn’t been a light, exactly—it looked more like _flames_.

What could be on fire in the woods? Or who could be setting something on fire? Was it…  _God_. Was it that arsonist PJ had told them so often about to try and scare them?  _Was he after Dan?_

The thoughts raced through Phil’s head as he picked up his pace and set off at a trot. “Where  _are_ you, Dan?” he called out.

A soft noise caught his attention. It sounded like a voice, almost, if Phil strained enough to hear it. He immediately took off in its direction, feeling as if his heart was lodged in his throat all the while.

He came upon a small clearing in the trees, and there sat his brother, huddled in on himself as he sobbed. Though relieved to have found him, Phil felt sick to his stomach seeing him so... broken. He did not deserve this.

“ _Daniel_ ,” he breathed, rushing to Dan’s side. He didn’t respond to Phil, or even look at him as he kneeled down beside him. When Phil pulled him into his arms, though, Dan did lean into him, shaking violently as he cried. Phil noticed that Dan’s skin was cold to the touch and realized that he wasn’t even wearing a jacket. “Jesus, Dan, you must be freezing.”

Phil pulled Dan up to his feet slowly. He tugged his jacket off from over his sweater, putting it around Dan’s shoulders, slightly too tight for him to put it on completely. Sniffling, Dan turned to face Phil, and Phil could see the betrayal written all over his face. “Dan...”

“I’m such an idiot,” Dan said, wiping at his face with the collar of Phil’s jacket. “I can’t believe I—I thought he would actually—could _possibly_ —and Jack and Matt—”

A sudden crashing noise in the forest behind them cut him off. The both of them turned, startled.

“Phil?” Dan whispered, his hand reaching for Phil’s.

The sound continued, louder now, and in a rush of adrenaline Phil grabbed Dan’s hand and shouted, “ _Run_!” before taking off at a full sprint back into the forest.

As he dragged him along, Phil could hear Dan begin to hyperventilate. Or maybe it was his own breathing that he heard. All he knew in that moment was that he and Dan needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. In the back of his mind, he knew they were travelling deeper into the forest, with the trail becoming fainter and more treacherous with every step, but he couldn’t force himself to try and make it back to the cabin. There was no way they could do it.

Whatever was chasing them was barreling at them inhumanly fast. Branches broke with the weight of it as it clamored behind them, and the _noises_ it was making...

They crossed over the covered bridge leading to the edge of their property, and that’s when Phil knew they had to be way out of the way, too far for anyone to be nearby or for them to make it back to the lodge, and that’s when he was sent into panic mode. And then suddenly there was a scraping noise, and Dan’s weight left him. Phil turned back to see that Dan had tripped over something, laying on the ground with his foot twisted in an unnatural way, sobbing and in hysterics at this point. Phil hauled him to his feet, and Dan cried out in pain, but the sight of a dark shadow moving quickly behind them made Phil pull him along anyway, despite Dan’s protests and the sound of his ankle popping as he tried his best to move. Absurdly, Phil noticed one of their phones on the ground as they began to run again and wondered if they would have time to get it back.

It wasn’t long before they reached the very edge of their property—a huge cliff that fell hundreds of feet down into a cavern. “ _Fuck_ ,” said Phil, staring over the edge of the cliff. Dan grasped to him desperately, and Phil turned so that Dan would be behind him, away from... _whatever_ it was following them.

The thing moved inside of the forest, not yet visible to them, and Phil mustered up enough to shout at it. “Stay back! Get away from us!”

And then there was the sound of rocks crumbling, and feet moving quickly across the snow, and all of Dan’s weight pulled on Phil until they were both sliding down the mountainside. Miraculously, Phil managed to snag a tree root protruding from the side of the cliff, and Dan had a vice grip on his hand. The strain was almost unbearable with Dan’s weight, and having him panicking and struggling as he clung to Phil was of no help.

“Just hold on, Dan,” Phil said, his voice wavering as tears began to form in his eyes. “Hold onto my hand, please, _please_ , Dan.”

And then a person was above them, reaching for them, and instinctually Phil was inclined to reach out for them, but Dan was holding onto his hand... If Phil could just let go...

Phil shook the thought from his head as the figure moved closer, more menacingly. With a heavy heart he realized there was only one way out of it. He let his fingers loosen their grip on the tree root, and suddenly they were falling.

The ground rushed up to meet them, and Phil immediately hit a protruding rock, forcing a sickening crunch from his spine as blood spewed from his mouth, and he stopped screaming then. Both of their bodies tumbled down the rocky incline until they reached the mouth of the cavern, where they fell several more feet before finally coming to a rest at the bottom, broken and still and covered in their own blood.


	3. Memento Mori - Ten Hours Until Dawn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later, the gang returns to the cabin in the woods. Tensions are already running high, the weather is taking its toll on everyone, and Felix is a dick. But, hey, what else is new?

“As many of our listeners know... is the one-year anniversary of what locals... ‘the Liguori Tragedy.’”

The voice on the radio crackled in and out of signal as the bus jostled along its bumpy mountain pass. Louise blamed it on the snow storm that was currently rolling in above them, as well as the fact that they were traveling farther into the wilderness, where there was little reception. To compensate for the loss of signal, Louise turned up the volume on her phone, but was only met with horrible static.

She should have known that there would have been some news about it when she got into the area; it was the biggest news the county had had in years. Of course they would milk it for all it was worth.

“We have in studio with us Sheriff Dodie Clark, who headed the investigation for as long as it was...” The signal went out for a moment, the static almost unbearable, so Louise put her phone closer to the window for better reception.

“...for having me, Evan.”

“...give our listeners an update on what is currently known about the Liguori boys?”

Louise stared out of the window as the bus bumped through more potholes. She had never liked the ride up to the lodge for as long as she had been going up there with Dan and Phil, and now without them there, it took a lot more out of her.

“From what we’ve heard from their... that the boys left their adoptive family’s cabin... a blizzard. From there, we aren’t certain... do know that that was the last time either of them were seen alive.”

 _And they conveniently leave out_ why _they went out into the storm in the first place_ , Louise thought bitterly.

“...foul play?”

“At this point, no. But there is... we consider to be a person of interest.” Louise raised her eyebrows at this. PJ hadn’t mentioned anything like that to her. “...history of resentment toward Mr. Liguori and his family. He warned the family against purchasing the property and... their lodge there, and we have made many trips out... straighten things out between them. His whereabouts are currently unknown, though, so we cannot formally declare him a suspect.”

“You know, there is an abandoned sanatorium located near the Liguori property. Perhaps he could...?” At this, Louise grimaced.

“Well… I have had my officers search the premises, but… could not have made it that far, with the distance and…”

This answer seemed to satisfy the radio host as little as it did Louise. “Well, the mountain has been known to attract tragic events, hasn’t it?”

“More than you know, Evan.”

“...for being on the show with us to discuss these... Sheriff Clark.” The static began cutting in more frequently. “Our condolences to... family and their son, PJ, on... of the Liguori boys’ mysterious disappearance. Good night.”

Ignoring the lump forming in her throat, Louise exited from the radio app and looked through her messages to find the link to the private video PJ had made for all of his friends. She smiled as she opened it; she had watched the video multiple times, but it always made her happy to see that PJ was actually feeling better. He had beaten himself up so _harshly_ after Dan and Phil vanished, thinking he was responsible for not looking out for them, and it broke Louise’s heart.

“Hello, tiny planet explorers,” PJ said. He chuckled at himself before he stood up from his bed, readjusted the camera, and sat back down. “Never can get this thing to focus correctly. My bad. But, hello.” He gave a little wave, and Louise smiled a bit. “I am beyond excited for this weekend. First of all, I just want to say how happy I am for all of us to be back together again. We’ve not all been together as a group for the past year, and I just know we’re going to have the best time. But that being said, I’d also like to, you know, address the elephant in the room.”

He shifted uncomfortably, the smile falling from his face. Louise looked away from her phone and gazed out of the window once more.

“A lot of you have been rather worried about me over the past few months. But I’m fine. I thank you all for your concern, especially those who have supported me for the past year—” Louise, who had been by his side more often than not, felt a twinge of connection, knowing he was talking about her. “—but I’ve come to accept what’s happened. And though it will be hard on all of us going back, I think we’ve all pretty much accepted it.” He paused, and Louise knew that he was looking away from the camera now without even having to look at her phone. “I just want you guys to know it means so much to me that we’re all going to be back together now. I know that—that Dan and Phil would be happy that we’re still together, still—still happy. Still thinking about them.”

There was another pause, longer this time. Louise looked back down at her phone. PJ had his hand over his mouth, looking just off camera in a contemplative state. She felt the urge to be there for him, to comfort him, hold him in her arms and tell him it was alright. She couldn’t wait to get back to the lodge to see him again.

PJ dropped his hand from his face and turned his gaze back to the camera. “I just—I really can’t wait to spend time with each and every one of you guys. You all mean so much to me. We should—I think we should all really let ourselves show others how much they mean to us. I just can’t wait to see you guys again.” With a clap of his hands, PJ’s face broke into a grin. “Until then, my friends! Let this be a weekend that we may never forget.”

 

-:-

 

Louise adjusted the straps of her backpack as she made her way up the path toward the cable car station. It couldn’t have been past nine o’clock, and yet the sun had long since gone down past the mountains in the west. This area of the path had no lighting—for what reason, Louise had no idea—so she found herself guided solely by the light of the moon in the darkness.

She had made this same trip many times over the years, so the path was familiar to her, but she had never gone by herself. Usually she was accompanied by one of her other friends, or she had been invited to come along with the Liguori family. Now it was just her and the moonlight.

Ahead of her, she heard what sounded to be heavy footsteps crunching through the icy snow, which pulled her from her thoughts. “Hello?” she asked, hoping she could walk the rest of the way with one of her friends. “Marzia? PJ? That you?” Only silence greeted her. It was probably just an animal, Louise thought somewhat bitterly as she continued down the path.

Down the trail and around a curve stood a large, iron wrought gate, looming at least ten feet tall above Louise’s head. It had once been immaculate, a symbol of the dignified nature of the family, but now it stood in a state of disrepair; where Blackwood Pines was written at the top of the gate, one of the letters had rusted out and fallen from its place, barely dangling on for dear life, and the same went for more than one of the spikes adorning the top. It gave the gate an old, decrepit feeling that sent shivers done Louise’s spine.

As she walked closer, she noticed a piece of paper wedged between two of the bars of the gate. Curiously, she picked it up and read the curly script written haphazardly in Sharpie.

> _GATE’S BUSTED! Climb over wall <\---_
> 
> _xoxo Felix_  

“What?” Louise muttered under her breath, shaking the gate for good measure. Predictably, it remained in place. The place had gotten worse off than she remembered.

She had been to the lodge numerous times between then and the last weekend getaway a year ago. Sometimes to help with the search parties, but mostly to be with PJ during the investigation. But it had been months since anyone, even the family, had been up to the cabin. They had let go of all their help and even had planned on selling the place, if what PJ had said held any weight.

Louise sighed, pushing the thoughts from her mind. She stuck the note back in the gate for the rest of her friends to see and made her way over to the rock wall to the side of the gate.

Admittedly, she wasn’t the most athletic of people, so the idea of scaling the wall— _in a skirt_ —wasn’t terribly appealing. But seeing no way around it, Louise put her hands tightly on the cold stones and carefully began to lift herself upward.

It wasn’t easy, and her gloved hands may have slipped more times than she would have liked to admit, but she reached the top of the fence and sighed in relief. How was she still going to walk all the way to the cabin from here? She laughed at herself and shook her head wearily before gently letting herself drop from the wall onto the snow below her.

In the distance were a few dim lights, leading the way up the path to where steps began. Louise was grateful for even the slight illumination they gave her.

As she approached the steps, an animal darted out in front of her. It startled her at first, but she quickly realized it was just a little squirrel. She smiled and knelt down before it.

“Hey little guy,” she said. She reached into her pocket for the sunflower seeds she had been snacking on and held them out to the squirrel. Tentatively, the squirrel crawled toward her. “You’re such a little cutie,” Louise chuckled. The squirrel reached into her hand and snatched some of the seeds from her palm, making Louise have to contain her laugh. As quickly as he had approached, the squirrel ran off, and Louise stood up and began to walk again.

Eventually, the cable car station came into sight, and beyond it was the stunning view of the mountain range. Though dark, the moonlight illuminated the mountains, and fog obscured the view in such a way that it cast an almost ghostly aura over the scene. Beautiful and eerie.

Louise took quiet note of the vandalism decorating the map that sat by the edge of the cliff. ‘THE PAST IS BEYOND OUR CONTROL’ written in blood red. Very cheery. She offhandedly wondered who would have had the gall to travel all the way up here just for something as stupid at that as she made her way to the bench outside of the station, where a single backpack lay.

She recognized the bag as being Felix’s, but Felix was nowhere to be found. Idly she wondered if he had gone into the woods for whatever reason before a faint buzzing noise caught her attention. A screen lit up in the open front pocket of Felix’s bag, and Louise was suddenly intrigued. Without thinking she instantly grabbed the phone from the bag.

> _**New Message from:** Cutie Pie (Marzia!!!)_  

Louise smiled affectionately at that for a moment before she suddenly felt a firm grasp on her shoulder. She gasped and whirled around in an instant, fully prepared to fight before she realized it was only Felix.

“Hey, nosey,” he said, his expression mixed between amusement and disbelief, “you know that’s not yours, right?”

Louise took a moment to process what he said, still coming off her mild adrenaline rush, and looked down at her hand at Felix’s phone. “Oh,” she said finally, smiling sheepishly at having been caught. “I just—I heard it ringing, so I was like, ‘Better make sure it’s not, like, somebody’s mum or something.’” She handed the phone back to Felix, but continued to speak at a mile a minute. “How do you even manage to get reception up here? Like, I’ve not been able to use my phone for the past two hours or something. You must have, like, Verizon or something.” She laughed weakly at herself. “Anyway… Hi, Felix.”

Felix just shook his head. “Hi, Louise,” he replied, and Louise was thankful he was still smiling. “The cable car’s not gonna be here for a minute, I think, so come over here and let me show you something I found.”

“What is it?” Louise asked, ever skeptical. It was with good reason, though; Felix always seemed to have something up his sleeve, and somehow being alone in the dark with him seemed like it would lead to some godawful prank. Or something.

Picking up his bag and slinging over his shoulders, Felix tutted. “Not telling. You gotta see it for yourself.”

“You’re not going to, like, take me out back and murder me, are you?” Louise joked before she could stop herself, and the realization of just what she had said hit her immediately. “I—I mean… It’s safe, right?”

Felix began walking around the back side of the station, and Louise followed him. “Uhhh—Depends on your definition of ‘safe.’”

“Felix…” Louise started warningly, but before she could finish her thought, she caught sight of a ripped-up poster slapped to the station wall. Her eyebrows pulled together, and curiously she went up to investigate. It appeared to be some sort of wanted poster, but most of the information had been torn off, seemingly almost deliberately. The photo of a man had a huge, circular hole where his face would be, and most of his personal information had been scratched out. The only thing that remained of his name were the _Rya_ of his first name and the _T_ in his last name, which someone had crudely added illegible letters around and in between. “Hey. Come look at this first.”

Felix twirled around on his heels to see what she was talking about. “ _Wanted for arson and death threats_?” he read aloud. “Get the fuck out.”

“I don’t like that,” Louise admitted, rubbing her hands along her arms to stave off the chill creeping up on her. What had been said on the radio about a person of interest? Could it be this guy? _Lord_ … “Not one bit.”

“Why would they even put this here?” Felix asked, running his gloved finger along the tattered sign. He traced the bottom underneath where it read _JANUARY 2000_ in small letters. “Nobody ever comes out here.”

Louise could only shrug, tearing her eyes away from the sign to look up at Felix. He seemed contemplative and deep in thought as he stared at the poster. “Did PJ ever mention anything to you about an arsonist?” she asked. “Or anything like that?”

“Well…” Felix started, but he trailed off. Louise didn’t want to push the situation, so she waited until he was ready to speak again. “When we were smaller, me and him used to tell the—the boys that there was a man in the forest waiting to get them,” he said, his eyes wandering to the ground. “I didn’t… I don’t…”

“It’s okay,” Louise said at once. She stepped forward to him and put her hand on his forearm, squeezing gently. This wasn’t how she wanted to spend her weekend, so she knew that Felix wouldn’t want to, either. Best to keep his mind off of it from now on. “I’m still curious as to what you’ve found hidden in the woods.” Felix gave her a weak smile before straightening up and continuing along the side of the station.

Behind the building, there was a small set up of what seemed to be a homemade gun range. Behind a small fence was a line of various objects either sitting atop barrels or hanging from trees, waiting to be used for target practice. Louise frowned, watching as Felix picked up a double-barreled shotgun and smiled at it appraisingly. “Ta-da!” he said, gesturing to the gun in his hand with gusto.

“Really?” Louise shook her head. “You brought me back here to see this?”

Felix scoffed. “ _Come now_ , Louise. You can’t really stand there and say this isn’t pretty fucking sweet.” He admired the shotgun in his hands as he turned it over, studying it as if he knew anything about the mechanics of it.

“I can and I am,” Louise muttered. She looked skeptically at the shotgun. “Was that just sitting out here unattended?”

With a shrug, Felix lifted the crosshair of the gun to his eye. “Maybe. I didn’t do it.” He began lining up a shot, aiming for a tin can resting on a fence post in the middle of the clearing. “Watch what I _can_ do, though.”

The first shot missed its mark by several inches, tearing through the forest with a small rustling of leaves, and Felix jerked back hard from the recoil. Louise snorted, and Felix felt somewhat embarrassed.

“Not as easy as it is in video games, is it?” Louise quipped, crossing her arms.

“Shut up,” Felix muttered. He pulled the gun back to examine it before recentering himself on his target. “I’m an expert marksman.”

This time he actually landed his mark. The bullet pinged off the tin can, sending it flying back into the forest. Felix’s mouth fell open in awe and he couldn’t help but laugh. He felt strangely proud of himself, and when he looked back up at Louise to get her reaction, she seemed just as surprised as he was.

“I told you!” he said, grinning ear-to-ear in satisfaction.

“Bet you won’t be able to do it again,” Louise teased.

She must have jinxed him, Felix thought, missing each one of his next three targets. He swore loudly each time, going in higher in pitch after every miss. “I’m not stopping until I hit one more,” he told Louise, refocusing himself on a large bag of sand hanging from a tree branch. “I’m gonna show you, asshole.”

“I believe in you, champ.” Louise was giggling under her breath, but Felix didn’t let that bother him; he had his eyes on the prize and he wasn’t going to let his friend bring him down.

And, of course, the bullet lodged itself an inch above the bag into the branch itself, and Louise began to snort. Felix could feel the frustration building up inside of him; there was no way he could be _this_ bad. And having Louise here to witness his failure only added to the sense of shame he felt from something so trivial. At the same time, though, there was something exhilarating about just having a gun in his hands. There was so much power behind the weapon, something Felix enjoyed perhaps too much. It was a strange mix of feelings in his gut.

There was a small rustling in the trees behind the clearing, and out popped a gray squirrel. Felix and Louise watched as it crawled up onto a barrel, picking up a few acorns that had lay on the metal and shoving them into its mouth.

Felix licked his lips for a moment, contemplating. It would be so easy to pick off the small animal with a single bullet. At least, it would help channel out some of the irritation and anger he felt welling up inside of him at that moment instead of potentially taking it out on Louise. Slowly, so as not to scare it, he lifted the scope to his eye and centered the crosshairs on the squirrel…

His stomach twisted suddenly, and he realized what he was doing was wrong. _Call of the void_ , he thought to himself as he put the gun down, _more like call of the fucking lunatic. What the fuck was that?_ Thankfully, Louise hadn’t noticed, or else she might have gone ballistic on his sadistic ass.

The distant groan of metal on metal signaled to them that the cable car was making its way toward the station. Felix and Louise made their way back up to the front of the station, a strong breeze brushing past them and chilling Felix to the bone. That was strange, he thought, considering he had grown up well-accustomed to the cold. The weather this weekend must have been pretty rough.

When they reached the station door, Louise immediately tried to make her way through, but was met with resistance. “What?” she asked, looking up at Felix.

Felix dug through his pocket and held up a key. “Peej wanted us to keep the doors locked until we started making our way up,” he told her, and she stepped aside to let him unlock the door. “Something about finding people sleeping in here.”

“Well, that’s weird,” Louise said, and they made their way inside. The door opened to the deck of the station. Felix looked up to see that the car was still a little way away from them.

“I would’ve thought it was closer,” he said. Ever restless, he started looking about him for something to occupy his time with. Inside of the control room seemed interesting enough—there was enough junk in there to keep him busy for a few more minutes.

The dimly lit room looked like it was used as a storage shed. Snow boards, skis, and boxes and crates of various objects were piled along the walls, covered in a thin layer of dirt and frost. The first thing that really caught Felix’s eye was a poster hanging to his right. _Blackwood Pines_ , it read, _Hotel and_ —

“ _Sanatorium_?” Felix said aloud, the unfamiliar word tripping him up. He looked back at Louise, who was leaning against the railing and looking out into the distance. Internally he debated whether or not to ask her about the meaning of the word. He was proud, he had to admit; he had been known to brag about being multilingual on occasion. If he were to ask Louise for help after that, well…

No. His pride won him over, and he remained silent, trying to figure out what it meant on his own. “Sana-” was Latin for “clean,” right? So maybe it was something akin to a spa. _Healthy Mind, Healthy Body_ , was written under it, so he shrugged it off, assuming he was right.

Toward the back of the room, a small monitor flickered with different security camera images from around the cable car station. One was from the area between the forest and the side of the cable car station where they had seen the wanted poster; the next was the front of the station; another was…

…a view of a bathroom?

Felix’s eyebrows pulled together, but before he could really study the image it switched to the next camera, the deck of the station where Louise stood. It was live footage, since he could see her leaning against the railing and swaying her head to an imaginary tune. He watched as the footage cycled through the cameras again, but never once did it change back to the bathroom he had thought he had seen.

“Come on, Felix!” Louise’s voice rang from outside. “The car’s here.”

Had he imagined it? Felix wondered as he tore his attention away from the screen. He probably had. It had been a long trip to the mountains, so he was worn out. That had to explain why he was being so weird. Right?

Louise was already sitting in the car when Felix made his way outside. He always felt nervous riding in the hanging contraption; there was always the chance it would just stop in the middle of its trip and never make it to its destination, or the cable could break, sending the entire thing crashing back down to the Earth. He couldn’t decide which would be worse.

Still, he climbed in next to Louise, gripping the underside of the seat tightly. The cable car started with a lurch, sending the two of them jerking forward.

They laughed it off somewhat awkwardly. “This place has really gone downhill,” Felix muttered, and Louise gave him a small nod.

“It just seems really weird to be back here,” she added, looking out of the window to her left. Felix didn’t think he could be so brave as to do that. “But PJ was so excited about it…”

“Yeah.” Felix smiled. “It’s really good to see him so happy. He definitely deserves to be excited about something again.”

Louise grimaced, tapping her nails on the wall of the metal car. “It’s just hard to tell with him nowadays,” she admitted. “One day I’ll text him and we won’t stop talking for hours, and the next he tweets something so depressing, and it’s just—”

“I know,” Felix said suddenly, more harshly than he had meant. But he did know. He knew exactly how PJ had been the past twelve months, how beat up he had been over what had happened. Louise had been there for him, of course, but it was mostly through Skype and social media. She lived too far away from PJ to meet him face to face every time that he needed her. Felix, however, had been the one who would always drop everything he was doing and rush to PJ’s side. He was the one who had held him through his sobs, had calmed him during his panic attacks, had talked him down from the ledge more often than he’d like to admit… But Louise didn’t know that. She probably thought she was some kind of savior. Felix could at least give her that.

He suddenly felt a heavy lump threatening to form in his throat, and he tried his best to swallow it. “I know. But we should just leave it be, you know? That’s not what we’re here for.”

Louise nodded solemnly. “You’re right.” It was quiet for a moment after that, save for the rumbling of the car being pulled along the cable.

“So,” Felix said, never one to enjoy silence, “you know how PJ and I met?”

She thought on this for a moment before turning to face Felix. “No,” she said in a questioning voice. “How?”

“Well,” Felix began, smiling, “it was the third grade. I had just moved over here from Gothenburg, and I didn’t know very much English.” Louise mocked surprise as her hand fluttered up to her chest, but Felix chose to ignore that. “And it was, like, some international school for diversity or whatever, so they had students in every class that could speak a lot of different languages, to make them mingle together or something like that. Well, I was supposed to be paired up with some other Scandinavian kid who was going to help teach me English, but she was out sick that day. So the teacher asked if anybody else in the class knew Swedish, and fucking PJ raised his hand and said that he did because his father was from Sweden.”

Louise snorted. “His dad’s Italian,” she said, “and not even, like, properly Italian. He’s like, half or a quarter, or something.”

“Exactly,” Felix said. “So I was paired up with him that day, and the whole time neither of us could understand each other. And it was just the funniest thing in the world at the time to us. The teacher eventually found out and made me go with the Swedish girl, though, but until then we had formed some kind of, like, super-lingual bond with each other. And I learned English, so then we were able to have actual conversations.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Bros ever since then.”

“Why did he lie about that? About speaking Swedish?”

Felix laughed and said, “I asked him about that a few years later and all he said was he wanted to improve his ‘method acting.’ Whatever the fuck that means.”

“So, what’s the moral of the story here?” Louise crossed her arms over her chest.

“If PJ wasn’t born lying through his teeth in an attempt to become an actor,” Felix said, and Louise laughed at that, “and if that little Swedish girl had decided not to be sick that day, him and me might never have become friends.” Felix shrugged. “Heck, he might’ve become friends with some little delinquent kid, and he could be sitting here with you instead of me. Things could be totally different. You ever think about stuff like that?”

Louise nodded her head. “A lot, actually,” she told him, her voice somewhat melancholic. “Doesn’t that have a specific name or something?”

“The Butterfly Effect.” Felix released his grip from the bottom of the seat and put his index finger and thumb as close together as possible. “One tiny change, and _boom_.” He threw his arms out wildly. “Life as you know it changes. It doesn’t matter how minute you think the decision is; everything has its consequences.”

 

-:-

 

> _**Jackaboy:** where are you? u already here or?/_
> 
> _**Markimoo:** Yeah dude, Im like halfway to the cabin by now_
> 
> _**Markimoo:** You here yet?_
> 
> _**Jackaboy:** yeah yeah. come back to the cable car station_
> 
> _**Markimoo:** Umm why_
> 
> _**Jackaboy:** bc im cold and dont wanna move any further. pls save me_
> 
> _**Jackaboy:** also. i thought we could get some alone time :-)_
> 
> _**Markimoo:** OMW_
> 
> _**Jackaboy:** figured you would be_

 

-:-

 

The sound of metal on metal pulled Jack’s attention away from the envelope in his hands. “Finally, some other human beings,” he muttered under his breath. It felt like he’d been there for hours waiting for someone else to show up. (In reality, it was probably more like seven minutes, but who’s counting?) He stood up from the snowy bench he had been resting on and made his way over to the door of the cable car deck.

Just as he was about to reach for the handle, something frantically pounded on the heavy metal of the door. Jack swore out loud and clutched a hand to his chest before looking up to see that it was only Felix and Louise with their faces practically pressed to the window pane, smiling like idiots.

“Hey, Jack!” Felix said, his voice muffled by the door. “Help us out here, man.”

“Sean, hi,” Louise said with a wave.

Jack shook his head, but he couldn’t help but smile at them. “What in the name of Christ is wrong with you guys, scaring me like that?” he laughed. “Nearly shat myself.”

Felix rolled his eyes. “You pussy—just open the door, will you?”

“Pretty please?” Louise added, giving Felix a soft elbow to the ribs.

Jack smirked and tilted his head to the side teasingly. “I might,” he said, his hand hovering over the bright green button beside the door, “but… what do I get out of it?”

“You get not having my boot up your ass, you little prick,” Felix said, and Jack snorted.

“Fair enough.”

Jack pressed the button, releasing the door lock. Felix and Louise walked out, and Felix took a dramatically deep breath of air, leaning over and panting. “Thought we’d die in there for sure!” he exclaimed. He straightened up slightly and threw his arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Thanks for being our savior.”

“I already regret it,” Jack said, shrugging Felix off him. Before he knew it, though, Felix was grabbing his arm and holding it up, looking at the envelope Jack still had in his hand. “Hey!”

“And what is this?” Felix asked, prying it from Jack’s grasp. Jack huffed and reached for it immediately, but Felix held the letter just out of his reach, his stupid Scandinavian arms being longer than a normal human being’s. “A letter for a Mr. Mark Fischbach? I knew you were a little fanboy, Jack, but _fan mail_ for your friend? Sheesh…”

“Give it back, Kjellberg,” Jack said warningly. “None of your business.” He tried sending Felix his coldest glare, but Felix only smiled.

“Apparently, it’s perfectly alright to make other people’s business your business,” he told Jack, and Jack saw Louise visibly stiffen. “Isn’t that right, Louise?”

Louise crossed her arms over her chest. “Sod off,” she muttered, her face gone slightly red. Jack raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing about it.

“I wonder what Matty Boy would say if he knew you were writing love letters to his ex,” Felix cooed, and he reached out to tear open the letter, making Jack’s heart jump.

“Don’t!” he said, moving toward Felix, who simply held the letter higher. Felix looked down at him expectantly. He was evidently enjoying this. “I—Um—Well. We’re together now. So it doesn’t matter what he thinks.”

Felix’s eyes widened, and he looked over to Louise, who seemed just as surprised. Apparently, this wasn’t the reaction he was expecting. “Oh,” Felix said simply, letting Jack snatch the letter from his loosened fingers. “Shit. Didn’t see that one coming.”

“Dramaaa,” Louise mumbled as she rubbed the side of her face dramatically.

Jack sighed and rolled his eyes behind closed eyelids. “Not really,” he said. He slid the letter into an interior pocket of his outer coat. “Mark and Matt split up, like, half a year ago. We just got together last month. It wasn’t messy or anything.” He paused for a moment, then added, “Matt and I are still friends.”

Something about that felt weird to say. Almost as if he was trying to convince himself of this rather than Felix and Louise. Sure, Matt and Jack hadn’t spoken to each other since Jack and Mark had gotten together, and he knew it was kind of shitty to jump on Mark right after he and Matt had ended their pretty serious relationship, but…

Jack sighed. He’d fucked up.

“Mmm’kay,” Louise said, filling the somewhat awkward silence.

“Can we just, like, hurry up and go now?” Felix asked. “I’m gonna freeze my ass off.” Without waiting for anyone’s agreeance, he turned and started walking up the trail to the cabin.

Louise began to follow him, but when she noticed Jack wasn’t coming along, she turned and gave him a questioning look.

“I’ll, um, I’ll catch up with you guys later,” Jack told her, walking back over to his bench. “I’m going to wait and see who else is gonna show up.”

Felix snorted loudly from where he was halfway into the trees, not even turning around to address Jack. “You mean Markipoo?” he cooed loudly, and Jack regretted ever saying anything to him.

“Fuck off!” Jack shouted back at him, half joking and half extremely irritated as he watched Felix disappear behind the tree line, Louise pattering slowly after him. He loved Felix—really, he did—but sometimes he could be a major, major dick.

Jack sat back down on the bench and rubbed his arms vigorously. It was exceptionally cold for February, he thought, pulling his arms out of the sleeves of his coat and wrapped them tightly around himself. He found himself wishing they were the arms of someone else—someone bigger, stronger, who was bound to keep him warm in the harsh weather with his body heat alone...

Feeling himself blush, Jack pulled out his cell phone and hurriedly sent another message to Mark: 

> _**Jackaboy:** babe. i need you. Now_

 

-:-

 

“Why does it always take so goddamn long to get to this cabin?” Matt whined, readjusting his bag on his shoulder. “Like, they couldn’t have built it next to the cable car? Really?”

Ryan suppressed a groan as he held open the gate for Matt, motioning for him to go first. Matt gave him a small smile as he passed by. “I think because they wanted a good view or something,” Ryan offered, shutting the gate behind them and picking up his own bag. “It’d be kind of ugly to have that station right by the house, don’t you think?”

Matt shrugged. He began to trudge up the trail, but his boots weren’t exactly made for hiking. He swore under his breath as he slid a little in the snowy mud, and Ryan laughed at him, earning himself a glare. Ryan understood, though; having both grown up in the subtropics of South Carolina, neither of them could ever truly get used to the climate and terrain of their friends’ cabin home, no matter how often they had visited in the past.

They both walked side-by-side, elbows brushing slightly. Ryan looked up at his boyfriend and noticed how flushed his face was, shivering against the harsh mountain breeze. In addition to not being used to the cold, Matt was also incredibly frail, making him much more sensitive to the chill quickly falling over the mountain than Ryan was.

“You okay, dude?” Ryan asked gently, purposefully rubbing his arm against Matt’s.

Matt shrugged again as he leaned into Ryan’s touch appreciatively. “It’s just so fucking cold,” he told him simply, pulling his bag further up on his shoulder again and busying himself with the strap.

Ryan knew something was up. He knew when Matt wanted to say something but found it hard to, and he knew his little nervous behaviors. Even though they’d only been dating for a few months, they’d been friends for years; there wasn’t much that Ryan didn’t know about Matt at this point.

So instead of pressing the issue, Ryan waited patiently for Matt to continue, and he eventually did as they began to walk through a covered bridge.

“And I’m getting chills, I guess. Creeped out chills, you know?” he said almost quietly. “It’s just—It’s gonna be so weird seeing everybody up here again. It’s so different now.”

Ryan nodded empathetically. “It’s gonna be pretty weird, I guess. Definitely not your regular college party.” They walked a bit more slowly, temporarily shielded from the wind. “It’s like Peej said, it’s the first time we’ve all been together again since last year. What do you think—”

Before he could get the sentence out of his mouth, some dark figure sprang from the forest in front of them, screaming. Matt shrieked, throwing his things down and shielding himself behind Ryan, who dropped his bags as well and balled his fisted up instinctually to protect himself and Matt.

After the initial adrenaline rush, Ryan realized he recognized the shape standing in front of them. “What the— _Mark_?”

Mark was bent over in laughter, practically wheezing at having caught the two of them off guard. “You should have seen your faces, oh my _god_ …”

“Jesus fucking _Christ_ , dude!” Matt yelled as he moved from behind Ryan. His stance was almost confrontational as he stepped toward Mark. “You fucking asshole!”

Ryan shook his head in disbelief. “I legit almost knocked your ass out, dude,” he said, crossing his arms across his chest.

Mark was still laughing, and that really, _really_ irritated Ryan. “Come on, guys, it was just a joke,” Mark said. “I mean, it’s spooky out here, and I had to take the opportunity to, you know, get into the spirit of things—”

“ _The spirit of things_?” Matt repeated incredulously. “Mark, you do realize why we’re here, right? How fucked up that sounds?”

Mark hesitated, the smile falling from his face, before he outright just rolled his eyes and frowned at Matt. “Don’t you get like this again,” he muttered, running his hand over his forehead and through his hair.

Matt spluttered, and Ryan _really_ didn’t want to be there anymore. “What do you mean?” he asked, glaring openly at Mark. “Like _what_?”

“Like you _always_ get when I try to make you laugh!” Mark told him, gesturing widely with his arms. “You can’t take a joke!”

Finally, Ryan couldn’t take it anymore. This was too much like a couple bickering, and that didn’t sit well with him. “Mark, just back off,” he said coldly. “Stop talking down to Matt. We’re together now and I’m not going to stand for you treating him like crap. Leave us alone, okay?” Ryan didn’t look directly at Matt, but he could tell from the way his stance loosened that he appreciated that.

Mark, on the other hand, looked surprised and affronted. “Wow. I thought we could all move past this. But whatever, fine. I’ll leave you guys to it.” Ryan rolled his eyes as Mark pushed past him, walking in the opposite direction back down to the cable car station.

Matt made a small noise of discontentment. “Mark—”

“No, I got the message,” Mark cut him off, not even turning back to look at Matt. “Not wanted, I get that. I’ll see you guys later, I guess.” He threw a curt wave over his shoulder and walked back through the gate, disappearing back into the woods as Ryan and Matt watched him go.

Somewhat relieved, Ryan sighed. “I guess he finally got it,” he muttered, reaching down to pick up his bag and Matt’s.

Matt chuckled and let his hand rest on Ryan’s shoulder. “So, not to be gay or anything, but you’re super cute when you go all alpha like that.” Ryan laughed loudly because _wow, what a dope_ , but he could still feel a blush creeping slowly up his face, anyway.

Just as Ryan began to continue walking up the trail, Matt groaned and snapped his fingers in annoyance. Ryan turned back to him and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I just—” Matt licked his lips almost nervously, looking back down the trail. “Can you bring the bags up to the cabin for me, please?”

“Why?” Ryan asked. “You can’t carry them?”

Matt shook his head. “No, man, I just—I need to go find Louise real quick.”

Ryan couldn’t help but be slightly skeptically at this. Matt and Louise never spoke, like, ever. What could be so important that he needed to see her right then?

“You’ll see her when we get up to the cabin, though,” Ryan pointed out, hoisting Matt’s bag over his shoulder anyway. He knew that despite his best efforts, he’d still end up carrying Matt’s stuff, regardless of whether Matt stayed with him or not. “I think it can wait.”

A small whine built in the back of Matt throat, the kind that he knew made Ryan melt into a puddle and want to give him anything he asked for. “Ryan, please?” he begged, clasping his hands together and tilting his head to the side. “I’ll make it up to you later…” he added, and he slowly dragged his tongue over his top lip.

Ryan swallowed hard. This kid was going to be the death of him.

“Fine, okay,” Ryan said, barely concealing an eyeroll. “You win, you whiney little bitch. But you owe me one, and I’m holding you to it.”

Matt grinned. “Thanks, babe. You’re the best.” He leaned down and gave Ryan a small peck on the lips before stepping back down the trail. “I’ll be there in just a sec. Promise.”

“Just be careful,” Ryan warned him, watching as he walked toward the station. “Don’t talk to strangers, don’t get into any vans—”

“Thanks, Mom!” Matt called over his shoulder. “I’ll be home before curfew. Maybe.”

Ryan sighed and shook his head, realizing he had just let Matt walk all over him. Again.

“You better be glad I love you, dipshit,” he muttered under his breath, and he continued back up the mountainous trail to the cabin.

 

-:-

 

Snow was still falling as Marzia tried her best to peer through the gazebo’s mounted binoculars, moving them every which way to see if she could see anything interesting. So far it had only been trees, and snow, and trees… Nothing too interesting. She was almost tempted to give up the quarter she had spent to use it.

That is, until she had her binoculars trained onto a clearing in the trail, spotting two of her friends standing very, _very_ close together. Matt was practically standing on top of Mark as he spoke, and Mark was staring up at him with a deep look on his face, and it didn’t look to be a very platonic scene at all to Marzia.

“Ohhh…” She covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She couldn’t help but continue to watch as Mark cupped Matt’s face in his hands, pulling their faces so close together that Marzia had a hard time telling where one started and one ended. _Were they kissing_? Did Ryan know they were out here talking? Or, well, “ _talking_?” What was going on here?

A sudden strong gust of wind knocked the binoculars from Marzia’s grasp, turning them away from the scene. Marzia tried to recenter them on what was going on—because if something was going on, she wanted to know, of course—but before she could, she was met with two wide eyes springing in front of the lenses.

“ _What the heck_?” she screamed as she jumped back. There was laughter in the air, then, and Ryan stepped up to the gazebo from around the binoculars. “Ryan!”

“I’m _sorry_!” he said, still giggling, putting down armfuls of bags onto the deck. “I had to! It was a perfect opportunity.”

“You’re so mean,” Marzia huffed. She could still feel her heart thudding wildly in her chest. She was already on edge as it was, being back here again after so long, and she certainly didn’t need anything to add to her anxiety.

Ryan just grinned at her, though, and she couldn’t stay mad at him. He was too sweet. “So what were you looking at?” he asked. “See any yetis out in the wild? Can I see?”

Marzia frowned, keeping her hold on the binoculars. She was stuck—did she want Ryan to see what she had just seen, or would it be better to just let it go? She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but would that make her a bad friend?

“Um, nothing much,” she lied, avoiding his eyes by staring just to the left of his face. “It uses quarters, anyway, and I think it just ran out. Too bad.”

“Not to worry,” Ryan told her, reaching into the back pocket of his jeans and retrieving a quarter. “I’m like a human coin purse.”

Marzia sighed. There wasn’t much she could do at this point to stop him. Maybe she shouldn’t “Go ahead, then,” she said quietly, turning the binoculars loose and letting him step up to them. He slid in his coin and looked through them.

“Let’s see what we got here.”

First he aimed them up toward the sky, then through the trees. Marzia started chewing on the nail of her pinky finger, a nervous habit she had mostly given up. She shouldn’t have given him the binoculars, she knew, and she felt horrible for having let him look.

“You weren’t kidding,” Ryan muttered, “there really isn’t anything out here.” Marzia felt a rush of relief wash over her, then, and she dropped her hand from her mouth. “What a waste of a—” Ryan paused, and Marzia looked over to him to see that he had frozen visibly. Before she could say anything, Ryan gripped the binoculars tightly, his knuckles turning white, and let out an almost guttural groan. “What the fuck? _Matt_?”

“Ryan—” Marzia started, but Ryan straightened up and turned away from her. “Maybe it’s not what you—”

Ryan wheeled back on her. “Really, Marzia?” he asked harshly. “They’re all over each other. What else could it be?”

“I don’t—I don’t know.”

“ _Fuck_.” Ryan ran both his hands through his hair in exasperation. “I knew there was something up. Mark’s always got to fuck everything up!” He hesitated for a moment, looking frustrated and lost, before he slung his bags up onto his back and stormed off back down the trail.

“Ryan!” Marzia called after him, sparing one glance back into the binoculars before stepping quickly down the stairs after him.

 

-:-

 

Jack sighed. What was taking him so long? It wasn’t a terribly long walk from the cabin to the cable car station, so there was no reason it should have taken him the fifteen-plus minutes that it was.

He didn’t feel at ease here. Little wonder, that was; everything had been his fault. Jack groaned as his mind brought him back to that night, to the horrible prank he had pulled on Dan, the look of betrayal on his face as he realized what had happened… It haunted Jack.

The wind was picking up again. Jack bound himself tighter in his layers of jackets to shield himself from the cold. He picked up his phone, contemplating whether to just get up and go to the cabin by himself, when something soared past him and hit the wall behind him with a wet splash.

He nearly dropped his phone as he threw himself to the side and away from the object, only to hear the distant sound of deep laughter. Looking up to where the trail entered the forest, Jack saw Mark standing there, grinning at him and tossing another snowball up and down in his hand.

“You cheeky bastard!” Jack hollered. He couldn’t keep himself from smiling in relief. “You’ll pay for this.”

“Mr. McLoughlin, we’ve got the place surrounded,” Mark said, his voice a gruff imitation of a police officer’s. “Put your hands up and don’t resist!”

Jack giggled, sliding his phone back in his pocket before standing up and holding his hands in the air. “Oh, but of course, officer,” Jack replied in falsetto. “I wouldn’t resist anything from you.” Mark tried hard to conceal a smirk at that.

He reached down to collect more snow to use as ammunition, and Jack eyed a bench sitting off to the side of the clearing which would offer him more cover. If he could catch Mark off guard like he was now…

Without thinking as Mark straightened himself up to stand, Jack bolted from the relative safety of the cable car deck toward the picnic bench. By the time Mark realized what had happened, Jack was nearly halfway there, laughing all the way. Quickly, Mark tossed one of his half-formed snowballs at him, but Jack was too fast for him; he dodged it at the last second, nearly sliding the rest of the way behind the bench.

“Sneaky boy!” Mark teased, and Jack hurriedly began patting down another snowball. “Come out, come out…”

They began to play in earnest, then; Jack mainly played the defensive as Mark continually tried to pelt him with snowballs. However, Jack felt he had a unique advantage over the other man, having spent most of his childhood playing in the snow. And it showed: Jack hardly missed any of his targets, whereas Mark had to deal with Jack endlessly dodging his poorly-aimed shots.

Eventually, as Jack hid behind a tree, waiting for his next opportunity to strike, it got quiet. The only sounds he could hear were his own breathing and thudding heart. Tentatively, he leaned around the tree in an attempt to scope out the scene, when all of a sudden he was turned around and pushed off his feet.

They landed in a pile of snow together, Mark laying partially on top of Jack as they stayed there, panting and laughing and taking in the warmth of the moment. Jack smiled and hummed contentedly as Mark propped himself up on his elbows and hovered a few inches above his face.

“I suppose I win, then,” Mark said, and Jack could feel the slight rumble of his baritone voice where their chests were touching.

Jack laughed. “Absolutely not. You can’t aim to save your life. And you’re a cheating fuck.”

Mark just chuckled at him, gazing at him admiringly. Jack swallowed hard, almost embarrassed by the way Mark was looking at him, and turned his head away slightly. He knew he could kiss him then, knew he probably should, but he felt flustered with the heat of Mark’s body pressing into him. They’d never gone farther than kissing, seeing as they’d only been seeing each other for about a month and didn’t see each other that often.

This felt different though. There was something else there when Mark looked at him, or touched his arm ever so gently. Something was going to happen this weekend, and Jack knew it, and it scared him, if he was being honest with himself.

So, instead of closing the short distance between their lips, he reached to his right, grabbed a handful of snow, and smashed it lovingly into Mark’s face. The other yelled and rolled off of Jack, standing up quickly as he spluttered and rubbed the snow off of his face. Jack giggled and stood up himself.

“Very romantic,” Mark grumbled, and Jack just smirked. He could still feel the flush on his face, but he felt smug nonetheless.

“We can get romantic later,” Jack told him, lacing their hands together as his heart sped up, “when I’m not freezing my balls off.”

Mark snickered and gave his hand a squeeze as Jack began leading him back up the trail into the forest. “My, my, we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit, but I finally churned this out. Being a full time student and part time customer service worker takes a lot out of you! For that reason I don't want to set a regular update schedule, because I'd never be able to stick with it. I'm awful. But anyway, I know this is a bit lengthy and uneventful, but this whole chapter in the game is pretty much just setting up the characters and setting, anyway. It'll pick up from here! 
> 
> Probably didn't mention this before, but I want to add that this is unedited by anyone but myself, so if there are any mistakes, please point them out! There's only so much you can catch after rereading something you wrote about 30 times.
> 
> Thanks for reading guys!


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